Editing IP over Avian Carriers (section)

== Other avian data transfer methods ==
Rafting photographers already use pigeons as a [[sneakernet]] to transport digital photos on [[flash media]] from the camera to the tour operator.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.denverpost.com/2007/06/22/homing-pigeons-get-down-to-business-ferrying-rafting-company-photos/ | work=Denver Post | first=Katy | last=Human | title=Homing pigeons get down to business, ferrying rafting company photos | date=22 June 2007 | access-date=7 November 2017 | archive-date=8 November 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108034711/http://www.denverpost.com/2007/06/22/homing-pigeons-get-down-to-business-ferrying-rafting-company-photos/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Over a {{convert|30|mi|km|adj=on}} distance, a single pigeon may be able to carry tens of gigabytes of data in around an hour, which on an average [[bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]] basis compared very favorably to early [[ADSL]] standards, even when accounting for lost drives.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=A New Israeli test confirms: PEI (Pigeon Enabled Internet) is FASTER than ADSL |url=http://www.notes.co.il/benbasat/5240.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713090722/http://www.notes.co.il/benbasat/5240.asp |archive-date=13 July 2008 |website=קצה - RIM - Ami Ben-Bassat's Blog}}</ref>

On March 12, 2004, [[Yossi Vardi]], Ami Ben-Bassat, and Guy Vardi sent three homing pigeons a distance of {{convert|100|km|mi}}, "each carrying 20–22 tiny memory cards containing 1.3&nbsp;GB, amounting in total of 4&nbsp;GB of data." An effective throughput of {{nowrap|2.27 Mbit/s}} was achieved. The purpose of the test was to measure and confirm an improvement over RFC 2549.<ref name=":0" /> Since the developers used flash memory instead of paper notes as specified by RFC 2549, the experiment was widely criticized as an example in which an optimized implementation breaks an official standard.{{Citation needed|reason=Who criticised?|date=September 2020}}

Inspired by RFC 2549, on 9 September 2009, the marketing team of The Unlimited, a regional company in South Africa, decided to host a tongue-in-cheek pigeon race between their pet pigeon Winston and local telecom company [[Telkom SA]].  The race was to send 4 gigabytes of data from [[Howick, KwaZulu-Natal|Howick]] to [[Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal|Hillcrest]], approximately {{convert|60|km|mi}} apart. The pigeon carried a [[microSD]] card and competed against a Telkom ADSL line.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Famous Bird vs Internet Contest of 2009 |url=http://pigeonrace2009.co.za/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180024/http://pigeonrace2009.co.za/ |archive-date=2016-03-03 |access-date=2009-09-08 |website=Pigeon Race 2009}}</ref> Winston beat the data transfer over Telkom's ADSL line, with a total time of two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds from uploading data on the microSD card to completion of download from the card. At the time of Winston's victory, the ADSL transfer was just under 4% complete.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-pigeon-idUSTRE5885PM20090909 | work=Reuters | first=Peroshni | last=Govender | title=Pigeon transfers data faster than South Africa's Telkom | date=9 September 2009 | access-date=5 July 2021 | archive-date=13 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513091534/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-pigeon-idUSTRE5885PM20090909 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm | work=BBC News | title=SA pigeon 'faster than broadband' | date=10 September 2009 | access-date=4 April 2011 | archive-date=14 April 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414225332/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-09-10-winston-the-homing-pigeon-draws-tweets-of-support "Winston the homing pigeon draws tweets of support"], The Mail & Guardian, September 10, 2009, by Niren Tolsi</ref>

In November 2009, the Australian comedy/current-affairs television program ''[[Hungry Beast]]'' repeated this experiment. The ''Hungry Beast'' team took up the challenge after a fiery parliament session wherein the government of the time blasted the opposition for not supporting telecommunications investments, saying that if the opposition had their way, Australians would be doing data transfer over carrier pigeons. The ''Hungry Beast'' team had read about the South African experiment and assumed that, as a developed [[Western country]], Australia would have higher speeds. The experiment had the team transfer a 700 MB file via three delivery methods to determine which was the fastest: a carrier pigeon with a microSD card, a car carrying a [[USB stick]], and a [[Telstra]] (Australia's largest telecom provider) ADSL line. The data was to be transferred from [[Tarana, New South Wales|Tarana]] in rural [[New South Wales]] to the western-[[Sydney]] suburb of [[Prospect, New South Wales]], a distance of {{convert|132|km|mi}} by road. Approximately halfway through the race, the internet connection unexpectedly dropped and the transfer had to be restarted. The pigeon won the race with a time of approximately 1 hour 5 minutes, the car came in second at 2 hours 10 minutes, while the internet transfer did not finish, having dropped out a second time and not come back. The estimated time to upload completion at one point was as high as 9 hours, and at no point did the estimated upload time fall below 4 hours.<ref>{{cite web |last=Real Human Stories |date=10 November 2009 |title=Pigeons vs. Australian Internet (Hungry Beast) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci2bFFGM8T8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805083157/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci2bFFGM8T8 |archive-date=5 August 2014 |access-date=3 June 2014 |work=YouTube}}</ref>

A similar pigeon race was conducted in September 2010 by tech blogger (trefor.net) and ISP Timico CTO Trefor Davies with farmer Michelle Brumfield in rural [[Yorkshire, England]]: delivering a five-minute video to a [[BBC]] correspondent 75 miles away in [[Skegness]]. The pigeon (carrying a memory card with a 300 MB HD video of Davies having a haircut) was pitted against an upload to [[YouTube]] via [[British Telecom]] broadband; the pigeon was released at 11:05 am and arrived in the loft one hour and fifteen minutes later while the upload was still incomplete, having failed once in the interim.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/17/bt_bird/|title=BT feathers ruffled over pigeon-based file transfer caper|work=The Register|date=17 September 2010|access-date=10 August 2017|archive-date=10 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810171005/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/17/bt_bird/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=UK Business ISP Timico Challenges Pigeon to Beat Rural Broadband |publisher=ISPreview.com |date=2010-09-16 |url=http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2010/09/16/uk-business-isp-timico-challenges-pigeon-to-beat-rural-broadband.html |access-date=2010-09-18 |archive-date=2010-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919152359/http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2010/09/16/uk-business-isp-timico-challenges-pigeon-to-beat-rural-broadband.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11325452 |title=Pigeon flies past broadband in data speed race |publisher=BBC News Technology |date=2010-09-16 |access-date=2018-09-18 |archive-date=2018-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002035507/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11325452 |url-status=live }}</ref>